Best Restaurant When Someone Else is Paying

Halls Chophouse

With five awards, we can safely say Halls swept this year’s Eating Out section. That may come as a surprise to some of you. This swank steakhouse tends to divide Charleston’s gastro-army into two camps: the fiercely loyal Hallsers who dream nightly about the $82 Dry-Aged Tomahawk Rib Eye and the Halls loathers who think the restaurant’s Mad Men atmosphere is a retro cliche — “Someone’s greeting you at the door? How passe. Give me a mason jar of Pabst and get the hell away from me.” Here’s what we think: Anyone who has actually tucked into an extravagant Halls meal can’t deny the steaks are kick-ass, the service exceptional (you’ll likely get a thank you note in the mail following dinner), and the piano jazz second only to Charleston Grill. So trendy eaters, bite this: Liking Halls is the new not-liking Halls in 2015.